Is Rosh Review beneficial for first year of PA school?

[Endeavor]

Is it beneficial for the first year/didactic of PA school? Or is it more beneficial for second year/clinicals/PANCE review?

If you used it during didactic year can you explain how it was helpful? 

Thanks!

[kiddbuckeye]

I used it as additional support for the PANCE. I was too busy the didactic year to include additional outside resources.

 

[SeaBird]

I think the utility of outside resources for didactic studying is very program dependent, but for me so far, RR has been extremely helpful specifically for our Clinical Medicine course. Same goes for Pance Prep Pearls - often I used my didactic notes as a supplement for these resources rather than the reverse, and I have been doing well. Our class was able to get a 2-week free trial and a $50 group discount rate, and I would definitely recommend looking into those options if possible. 

[mhgutierrez02]

I found it extremely  helpful however it was more helpful as I was preparing for PANCE but i will def recommend. 

[jpshoe]

I think Rosh is better used for clinical year. The breakdown of questions is better suited for your EOR exams than system based exams in my opinion. For questions during didactic year, I used Board Vitals, which my school paid for through our library, so not sure on pricing, but you can select your questions based on very specific criteria, which I liked a lot.

[NYCERPAC]

Rosh Review is a fantastic resource for didactic and clinical year, as well as the PANCE. 

During didactic year, the questions may seem completely intimidating (I remember feeling that way), however the explanations attached are extremely valuable. There are flow charts, diagrams, tables, and even audio/videos with the most up to date information related to the topic.  The resources are also provided at the bottom of the question if you feel the need to explore more on your own.  Although the questions may seem very difficult during your didactic year,  the explanations will be valuable to your studies. And, as frustrating as it may be, practice questions are extremely important, and  the more you do, the better you will get, so its a great idea to start doing them during didactic year in preparation for the PACKRAT and/or PANCE. 

Clinical year is when I finally felt more confident with the Rosh Review Questions. I felt the questions were very similar to the grueling PAEA EOR exams, which my program used. Rosh Review has actually recently been releasing Qbanks that are advertised as a "high-yield focus" for the PAEA EOR exams.  So, if your program utilizes these exams, then Rosh Review is the perfect resource. I don't believe there is any other question bank that is specifically geared toward the PAEA EOR exams. You can check out the most recently released Pediatric PAEA EOR exam here.   

As for the PANCE, Rosh Review has additional Qbanks you can purchase for I believe as low as $15.   There is one set of rapid fire questions (I think it was 300 questions), which is what I felt, out of all the resources I used, the most similar to the PANCE questions. I did it 1 week before my PANCE, and I felt like some of the questions might have even been on my PANCE (or at least very, very similar). 

The Rosh Review program is very user friendly and visually appealing on both the website and their mobile app. I would suggest it to anyone, as it functions as not only a great question bank to prepare for exams, but also as a valuable resource that will teach you the most up to date clinical information.  If you have any doubt, you can always try it for free!

I hope this was helpful!  

Sincerely, 
A newly certified Physician Assistant who chugged through PA school and landed her dream job with the help of Rosh Review 

[cordelia*8]

I subscribed a few months before the end of didactic, and found it very useful in preparing for the end of year cumulative exam. 

[Typophsyco]

I think if you have time for outside resources during didactic year, it would be useful. However I like to use it for review during clinical year when I find I have more time for additional...stuff. 

[gbrothers98]

A common misstep by students in medical education is to search for the 'holy grail' that has exactly what is required to be successful. This usually results in a text, program, information source or instructor being chosen, utilized for a period of time and when not meeting expectations, the search starts anew. Much time, effort and $ can be directed towards the search, all the while the areas needing focus are left unattended.

While a source such as Rosh Review is excellent and very well done, it is mostly applicable as pointed out, near the didactic year termination and then throughout the clinical year. Rewinding to the start of the didactic year, a much better resource would be not a text or program but rather an approach:

http://www.learningscientists.org/downloadable-materials/

Rather than base your education on a recommended product, learn to learn. Medicine is a broad field, even in specialties, and starting with a framework in place to manage the deluge of information coming your way is the best first step.

Good luck.

George

 

[Lucy199]

My school writes board style questions (2-3 sentences/case style) for our end of system exams and Rosh was extremely helpful. The caveat is to not let the percentages bring you down as there will be a ton of questions that are kind of out of left field or something that you really haven't covered in enough detail or studied enough to understand. Overall, I think Rosh has been valuable to myself and my classmates who used it during didactic.